


Lost Time

by alienauthor



Category: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Genre: A bit physical but not sexual, Alcohol but no intoxication, First Kiss, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-05-12 14:30:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19231009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alienauthor/pseuds/alienauthor
Summary: Damien and Hugo chaperone a dance at Maple Bay High School and Damien reflects on his teenage years. He regrets not being able to participate in the common teenage experiences that others did because he had to stifle who he really was. Hugo takes him out so he can experience all the mischief that he missed, including messy, awkward teenage love.





	Lost Time

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first time I've published a fanfiction since 2015, so feedback is very much appreciated and I apologize if my writing's a bit awkward! I plan for this to be multi-chapter and part of a series if people like it! ♡♡♡

 

     “Mind if I ask what you’re doing here all by yourself?” Hugo said, taking a seat next to Damien on the long bench attached to the wall of the dimly lit school hallway. The entrance to the school gym where the dance was being held was out of sight, but muffled music still came through and filled the otherwise silent sea of identical lockers.

 

     Damien wrung his hands together, eyes fixed on the floor and tracing the linoleum tiles. “I just... needed a moment alone away from the noise and crowding,”he explained. He wasn’t entirely lying. The sensory input of the dance was a bit uncomfortable, especially because the music wasn’t his taste and the DJ was a constant bummer, but it wasn’t enough alone to drive him away.

 

     “I understand. Teenagers are quite the rowdy bunch, aren’t they?” Hugo said. “Most of our biggest troublemakers have already left to… make trouble elsewhere where I’m not contractually obligated to watch them. If you need to leave, you c-”  
  
     “No, I would like to stay,” Damien started. He enjoyed his time with Hugo a lot, and he thought it impolite to leave the clean-up to the other dance chaperones. There was a pause as he gathered his words. Hugo was a receptive man, and they were alone, so he might as well be honest. “May I disclose something to you?”  
  
     “I’m all ears.”

 

     “Watching teenagers interact with each other has never been easy for me,” Damien said. “Not just because they’re rambunctious, but because… it makes me feel aged.”

 

     “Believe me, I experience that as a teacher… I still haven’t figured out why the kids think a fortnight is so funny,” Hugo chuckled.

 

     “Ah, I think it runs a bit deeper than that for me. I reflect on my teenage years and-”

 

     The clamor of adolescent voices from down the hall cut Damien off. “ _Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug_!” they chanted in unison from down the hall. That can't be good. Hugo sprang to his feet and jogged over. The children saw him and, in their infinite wisdom, scuttled around the corner away from him.

 

     “What are you- oh no. Oh no, no, no. Please don’t drink that! _Hand over the glow stick_!” was the last Damien heard as Hugo turned the corner, chasing after the students.

 

     The dance wound down, but not before several students were scolded and dragged off by their concerned parents. Hugo and Damien stayed the assist the other chaperones with clean-up and were among the last to leave. They exited the building together.

 

     “Sorry about those kids earlier. I would expect them to know better… and I’m sorry our conversation got cut off,” Hugo said. He unlocked the door to the driver’s side of his car. “Would you still like to talk about what’s on your mind?”

 

     “No need to apologize, my friend, I understand how adolescents can be,” Damien replied. He wondered if he should be thankful that the foolish things Lucien does typically don’t warrant a call to the poison control center.  “I, um-- it’s a bit much, are you sure you want to hear it?”

 

     “Only if you want to share,” Hugo said, his eyebrows drawn up in concern. He had been a bit worried ever since Damien had left the dance to brood in the hallway, so he felt some relief in Damien offering to open up. He sidled up to Damien, leaning on the hood of his car. Damien followed suit. “What’s on your mind?”

 

     Damien drew in a breath and looked up into the night sky. The parking lot was vast and empty except for them and a few more cars belonging to staff members. The only light came from the moon and the light poles that seemed to stretch infinitely above. Damien cleared his throat. Hugo was his closest friend, so he might as well be honest.

 

     “When I was an adolescent… nobody took me to dances. I never snuck out to cause mischief with my acquaintances at midnight. No teenage first love or first kiss. Nobody took interest in me, but some people took interest in… a person I had to pretend to be. I know adolescence is a turbulent time that nobody recalls with fondness but… I just lament my inability to have taken part in it for a reason out of my control.” Damien punctuated his sentence with a sigh. “My apologies, I’m afraid that I’m rambling.”

 

     Hugo clapped Damien on the shoulder, as gently as possible in respect to all the times that Damien had told him that he doesn’t know his own strength. “That… That sounds like it must have been really tough on you,” he starts. He spends a moment gathering his thoughts. He assumed that Damien’s “reason out of [his] control” was his gender identity and the lack of respect it was paid in the past. Hugo didn’t want to say that aloud, because he always treaded carefully around the subject to avoid being insensitive. In the silence, he rubbed Damien’s shoulder in consolation and saw a small smile play at the edge of his lips. Damien placed his hand on top of Hugo’s. Maybe he needn’t say anything more at all.

 

     “Thank you for listening. It means a lot to me,” Damien murmured.

 

     “Of course,” Hugo replied. “You know, there’s nothing stopping us from going out tonight and doing those things.”

 

     "Going out? To where?" Damien asked.

 

     "If you have nothing going on tomorrow morning, we could engage in some psuedo-teenage mischief tonight," Hugo suggested. "Ernest is with his father for the weekend, so I currently have no responsibilities aside from grading final papers… and I could really use a break from that. What do you say?"

 

     A beat of silence passed as Damien thought it over. "Yes, it would be my pleasure to join you in a foray into the night," he answered. Hugo smiled in response. He stepped away from the hood of the car and unlocked it, and they both climbed in, eager for the night ahead.

 

     Their first stop was a questionable-looking convenience store that at least one of their sons had been banned from. “Wait here,” Hugo said before he left the car, stopped in the store briefly, and returned with a brown paper bag. He handed it to Damien and Damien peered inside.

 

     “Schnapps? American schnapps? ...Green apple American schnapps?” Damien asked with disbelief.

 

     “Only the cheapest! It might not taste as good as it does to teenagers because you didn’t steal it from your parents, but I thought it was necessary.”

 

     “I thought you only drank wine?”

 

     “Usually,” Hugo replied with a wink “but bad booze is part of the experience.” Damien was somewhat skeptical about that but decided that Hugo was probably the expert.

 

     They pulled out of the parking lot and drove off towards the edge of the city. The drive was comfortably silent, and Damien spent the time watching the nightscape roll by, daydreaming about what a teenage love affair would have been like. A first kiss on the beach in the moonlight, flavored with a hint of alcohol on his lips that his lover stole from his parents. Young, reckless, fiery passion in the back seat of his boyfriend’s car, hickies he would cover with a scarf at school on Monday morning. It would be nice to go back in time and live that, nice to live it with somebody like Hugo who’s simultaneously passionate and dependable.

 

     Soon enough, they arrived at a somewhat remote beach. Further out from the city, the stars shone brighter. A rocky cliff loomed over them, providing a feeling of protection from the rest of the world. Hugo parked at the edge of the lot facing the water and rolled down their windows. Waves crashed rhythmically against the shore.

 

     “Well… here’s to mischief,” said Hugo, unscrewing the cap from the bottle of alcohol and knocking back a shot of the liquid that resembled pop culture renditions of nuclear waste. He swallowed and stifled a cough. “That is absolutely _revolting_ ,” he scoffed as he passed it to Damien. “Your turn-- wait, do you mind drinking after me?”

 

     Damien shook his head and followed suit. Hugo wasn’t kidding, that was disgusting. “I concur. That was terrible,” he grumbled.

 

     Hugo chuckled. “I think I have a blanket in the back we can sit on, just give me a moment,” he said, exiting the driver’s side of the car and heading to the trunk. Damien climbed out as well. He spied a sign attached to the ropes that fenced off the beach that informed him that the beach had closed several hours ago. How scandalous.

 

     “Found it!” called Hugo. He rejoined Damien in front of the car. “Shall we?”

 

     “We shall!” replied Damien. The two made their way down to the beach. Hugo laid the blanket down in front of the water and the two sat down, in rather close confines because the blanket wasn’t particularly large. They passed the bottle back and forth a few more times and sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, enjoying the ambience of the ocean waves, crickets, and the occasional car passing by. They were nothing more than buzzed, especially Hugo (being the wall of muscle that he was), but it still lightened the atmosphere a bit.

 

     “It would be nice to take a dip in the water, it’s a pity neither of us have bathing suits with us,” Damien commented.

 

     Of course, in his fantasies, if they had nothing to swim in, they would swim in nothing. The intimacy of bare skin touching underwater, the thrill of the forbidden. It would start with the brush of the hand, and end with nothing between them, the water frigid and their bodies burning hot. _Wouldn’t that be nice_...

 

     “Damien?”

 

     Damien was abruptly shaken from his daydream. “Ah- um- what is it?” he stammered.

 

     "I’m curious, what was swimwear like in the Victorian era?" Hugo asked. Damien's eyes lit up. He always loved when Hugo's constant quest for knowledge intersected with his interests. There was nothing more comforting that sharing something he loved with someone who was willing to listen to and appreciate him.

 

     "I'm glad you asked! Obviously, they were quite a bit more modest, and made out of very different and less comfortable materials, like wool,” Damien explained. “Women wore bloomers and dresses, very cumbersome, as most Victorian clothing was. It was expected that they would also wear stockings if men were present. Could you imagine such a thing today? I do own the typical union suit that Victorian men swam in, but it is certainly not made of wool.”

 

     “Your knowledge and dedication never cease to impress me,” Hugo commented with an appreciative grin. Damien beamed in response to the praise.

 

     “I’m still curious about something,” Hugo said, “and I’m sorry in advance...”

 

     “Oh? Please, go ahead, I’d be happy to answer, no need to apologize for curiosity!”

 

     “You don’t have to answer if this if it’s too invasive but do you…. Do you… Do you wear historically accurate Victorian undergarments?” Hugo asked.

 

     A red flush crept over Damien’s face. “No, not entirely, that would be… impractical, and I try to be as practical as I can with my lifestyle.”

 

     Hugo chuckled in response, his face a similar shade of red. “I figured, but the curiosity was burning.”

 

     “I had, however, taken some inspiration from our Victorian forefathers when I constructed my chest binder,” Damien explained as he undid the top buttons of his shirt to reveal a black garment that covered his torso. “It’s boned similarly to a Victorian corset, but obviously not in the same places. Though the modification is still described as ‘boning,’ this certainly isn’t whalebone, it’s steel,” he continued.

 

     “I admire your craftsmanship,” Hugo murmured, studying him. “And your dedication, as always. That must have taken a long time to construct.”

 

     “Thank you,” Damien responded. He paused for a moment, then quickly buttoned his shirt back up. The sounds of the ocean filled the air again. Hugo sat his chin in his hands and stared out at the water, lost in thought. Does Damien wear that all the time, he wondered? That can’t be comfortable. He wasn’t going to ask, feeling as if he had pried enough already. He had never seen Damien with less clothing that he typically wears, so there was something spectacularly intimate about seeing just a couple of buttons undone. Hugo glanced over at Damien again. The starlight illuminated his features so uniquely. He wondered if anybody had ever told Damien how handsome he was.

 

     It took him a long moment to realize that Damien had caught him staring. He immediately turned away, flushed in the face. Damien blinked. He was having a hard time reading the situation. Was this mutual pining, or wishful thinking? He had begun the night awaiting the idealized version of teenage shenanigans, but feeling his heart beat in his ears as he sat next to Hugo made it all too real. He awkwardly wrung his hands together. Yes, they were like teenagers: awkward and confused, seemingly allergic to being honest about their feelings for fear of rejection. Rejection, “ruined” friendships, rumors spreading. High school really never ended. He didn’t want to bother confessing his feelings knowing he would only be rejected.

 

     “The sky looks so wonderfully clear tonight,” Damien observed, attempting to veer his train of thought off of the track it was on. He laid back on the blanket so his field of vision would be filled with stars. Hugo followed suit and reclined to the right of Damien.

 

     “Are you well-versed in astronomy? It seems like a field you may like,” Hugo said.

 

     “Only a little. From here I can see… corvus, the goth of the May constellations,” Damien replied, pointing up at a formation of stars that resembled a trapezoid with a stray dot underneath it.

 

     “Neat! I… I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re pointing at, Damien,” Hugo admitted.

 

     “Here, if I may-” Damien started, reaching over, taking Hugo’s right hand, and pointing it to the formation of stars. “It doesn’t even slightly resemble a raven, I know.”

 

     “You’re right. I wonder what the Greeks were thinking when they named it,” Hugo chuckled. A second passed and they both seemed to realize at the same time that their hands had been touching for too long. They pulled away and continued staring up into the heavens. The sound of the ocean waves and occasional passing vehicle filled the air again.

 

     “Damien?” Hugo said, breaking the silence.

 

     “Y-Yes?” Damien stuttered, slightly startled.

 

     “I’ve had a wonderful time tonight, but it’s getting late…” Hugo started, sitting up.

 

     “Ah, you’re right,” Damien responded, sitting up. He felt his stomach turn a bit. He didn’t want to miss the chance to spark something romantic with Hugo, and he wasn’t sure if he’d ever feel this brave again.

 

     “Hugo,” Damien mumbled, barely audible.

 

     “Hm? Did you say something?” Hugo asked.

 

     “Hugo.” 

 

     “Yes?”

 

     Eyes shut, fists clenched, throat dry, Damien drew in a breath before he spoke. “Um, before we leave, I… I just…”

 

     “Is something the matter, Damien?” Hugo raised an eyebrow in concern.

 

     Damien tried to collect himself, wiping his sweaty palms on his pant legs. “I have… very strong feelings for you,” he stammered. “I was wondering if you would…. If you would consider… a relationship? Of the romantic variety?” He opened one eye to see Hugo’s expression and was surprised to see that he was _beaming_.

 

     Hugo threw his arms around Damien abruptly. “I thought you’d never ask,” he murmured into Damien’s shoulder. He pulled away. “Oh, I apologize, I should have asked before hugging you.”

 

     “Th-That’s alright.” Damien returned Hugo’s smile, running a hand through his own hair nervously. Both of them were red in the face. There was an awkward pause as both of them tried to decide what to do next. Damien wondered if they were supposed to kiss next, that sounds like the next logical step, but he had been out of practice for awhile. Would they start from square one, or would it be different because they were already close?

 

     Hugo answered all of Damien’s questions in one action. He placed a hand ever-so-tenderly on Damien’s cheek and leaned in, millimeters away from the other, but not quite touching as to give Damien the choice of where they would go.

 

     Damien chose to lean in and complete the kiss. It was soft, delicate, lips closed. He felt dizzy with delight. A moment passed before Hugo broke the kiss. He stayed close and brushed a hand through Damien’s silky black hair.

 

     “You know, this isn’t how I pictured this happening,” Hugo murmured.

 

     “You… pictured this before?” Damien asked in surprise. He could barely contain his excitement about knowing that Hugo had daydreamed about him like he daydreamed about Hugo.

 

     Hugo chuckled. “Yes, of course, ever since I got to know you. You know what a hopeless romantic I am. I was expecting a dramatic reveal over a candlelit dinner at sunset but… this is just as good.”

 

     Their lips met again, more passionately, and Hugo wrapped his arms around Damien’s waist. Damien couldn’t help but notice that Hugo’s mustache tickled his upper lip. He was sure he’d get used to it. Hugo pulled away after a moment and tilted Damien’s chin up to plant kisses along his jawline. This earned him a surprised and pleased gasp.

 

     “Is that okay?” Hugo purred into his partner’s ear.

 

     “Yes, yes… very much so,” Damien responded breathlessly. Hugo grinned and effortlessly hoisted Damien into his lap.

 

     “And this?” Hugo asked.

 

     “More than okay,” Damien answered with a smirk. He wrapped his arms around Hugo and trailed his hands up and down his back. Their lips locked again and Hugo pulled him closer so there was hardly any space between them. Damien could hear his heart pounding in his ears, lost in the thrill of his dreams finally coming true.

 

     After a moment, the two broke their kiss to catch their breath and spent a silent moment in each other's arms. Suddenly, a voice came echoing off the cliff, dissolving the romantic atmosphere completely. Both abruptly turned to face the noise. Somebody else was on the beach.

 

     There were a few figures in the distance walking towards them, too far away for any distinct features to be visible, but close enough that Hugo and Damien could make out a few words from the noise bouncing off of the cliff.

 

     After the momentary shock wore off, Damien tried to remove himself from Hugo’s lap gracefully, but fell backwards into the sand. He grumbled something about his poor waistcoat.

 

     “Oh no, oh no, those are my students. Those are _definitely_ my students,” Hugo whispered through gritted teeth. “We have to go.” He quickly sprang to his feet, grabbed the blanket and began scrambling towards his car. Damien followed. They hastily climbed in, buckled their seatbelts, and drove out of the parking lot, hopefully before the students got close enough to recognize Hugo or his car.

 

     They both caught their breath (not for the first time that night) as the beach got further and further behind them. “I’m almost certain that loud one is in one of my high school literature classes. I wouldn’t survive if they saw me out at this hour, especially on a closed beach with you in my lap,” Hugo explained.

 

     “I’m glad we made that daring escape then,” Damien said. He turned his attention to the landscape on the other side of the window as he had on the drive there. His mind was still buzzing with all of the emotions of the night. He and Hugo really were acting like teenagers back there. He couldn’t help but think that everything happened a bit too fast-- not that he didn’t enjoy it. Anxiety crept up on him again. What if Hugo changed his mind? What if they got into arguments and their friendship was forever ruined by their choice to date?

 

     Damien’s racing thoughts came to a halt when Hugo switched the radio on. The station was playing a soft piano ballad. They exchanged a meaningful glance. Suddenly, something occurred to Damien. He and Hugo were both adults. The fiery passion of young love could exist between them, but they were both mature enough to handle it. Damien had nothing to worry about.

 

     They made it back to the cul-de-sac where it was quiet and most of the lights were off. After parking his car, Hugo walked Damien home and they shared one last quick kiss at his door before wishing each other goodnight.


End file.
